Anyway, blackout bitterness aside, I’m thrilled that the Blues season’s starting again with tonight’s match up against the Nashville Predators (and if you want to go poke at the competition, direct your attention at Fang Faction). Sure, the Blues kind of owned the Preds last season, but that was last season – and if I remember correctly, the Blues didn’t own the Preds by scads and bounds. I admit, I respect Nashville and the game that they play, and the fact that they’re always – always – a tough team to play against.

Sadly, Evgeny Grachev’s one of the healthy scratches tonight. I’m pretty sure that most fans were looking forward to seeing him play. But it’s opening night, so we can’t be too picky, now can we?

The Blues’re paying tribute to Igor Korolev and Pavol Demitra this season via a small 38 sticker on the back of their helmets, as tweeted earlier today by Jeremy Rutherford. Louie Korac also mentions that the team will have a memorial video for those who passed away this summer in the Lokomotiv crash, as well as Wade Belak who retired as a member of the Nashville Predators.